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I possess some thoughts about that comments made by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz in the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is American, Fowler is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was appropriate. Rather, Fowler brought up the ongoing drought of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all enjoy a storyline, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). He said in press following his defeat that he in fact liked his path, because it offered the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the world in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the drought of American champions in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing between her and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the world entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite serve and powerful power on both front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat most opponents on the ATP tour. Against the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is often helpless. The last several seasons has witnessed the interesting emergence of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace of smaller men. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a drop shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of significant, improbable advancements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. 24 months later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded up to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing slump of American men lifting major titles when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

The American star made a personal best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that exact quarter-final should have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian won in four rounds, a victory that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a few championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the streak to the point of frustration. When Fritz finally did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a horrendous service game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend excessive effort to win it. Facing match points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He extended the contest two times on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite compelling proof that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not done anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in press conferences, exceeding virtually anyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, prepared to not only say his emotions or the tactic he felt decided a contest, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I fail to do it,” the American informed an interviewer in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely unlikely for all other players. {